The Spaniards first saw the Aeta in 1565, but the Aeta hastily avoided them and returned to their secluded area of the jungle. During American colonization of the Phillipines, the Aeta resisted Westernization and changes to social structure.
The Aeta have shown resistance to change and they were never incorporated into a colonial regime. The attempts of the Spaniards to settle them in reservations all throughout Spanish rule failed. During the early American colonization of the Philippines, the political structure of the Aeta was not disturbed, except when neighboring lowlanders organized artificial government structures headed by a captain or policia.
Methodist missionaries have attempted to educate the Aeta people.
While resisting change from the outside for hundreds of years, the Aeta adjusted to social, economic, cultural, and political pressures by creating systems and structures within their culture to cushion the sudden impact of change. Although the Aeta were never colonized by others they have still experienced problems with neighboring landowners. Since the latter half of the 20th century the Aeta have been declining in number. Their very existence has been threatened by problems brought about by other people and by nature. Poverty-stricken lowlanders, seeking food, have encroached on forest lands, displacing the Aeta. Although the Aeta people have stuck together and remain a close group they are decreasing in number due to their resilience to being incorporate into a colonial regime.
In the process of colonizing the region in the mid-to-late 1500’s, the Spanish forced the Aeta to relocate to the northern Philippines. The main aspect of culture that Spain brought to the Aeta was religion. When the Spanish first colonized the Aeta, they showed them the Catholic faith. The Spanish converted mainly the Malay population, the majority of the inhabitants of the Philippines at the time, which is why Catholicism is still present there today. Although, the Spanish did not force anything on them, the Aeta took on the religion and it has carried on from generation to generation. The main factor of the relocation of the Aeta to the northern Philippines is the colonization of the Spanish in the mid-to-late 1500’s. This is when the Aeta fled to Mount Pinatubo where they ended up staying and still live today. The only real colonization of the Aeta was by the Spanish, around 1565. The Spanish attempted to force other aspects of culture on the Aeta and push them into reservations. Instead, the Aeta fled to the north where they escaped the Spanish rule and were able to maintain their culture and way of life. There was one other presence in the Philippines, but wasn’t exactly a colonization. The Americans, although they did not disturb the Aeta culture or force them into anything unwillingly. The United States had a small presence in the Philippines for a short period of time during the Vietnam War but did not disturb any natural inhabitants or culture. When the United States military was there, their only purpose was to learn the way of the forest from the Aeta and gain the advantage over their enemy. The “colonization” by the United States was not an attempt to overpower or force their way of life on different cultures, it was simply a strategic move which actually helped Americans learn a considerable amount from the Aeta about their ways of life and the ways of the forest.
Colonialism and the World System
The Spaniards first saw the Aeta in 1565, but the Aeta hastily avoided them and returned to their secluded area of the jungle. During American colonization of the Phillipines, the Aeta resisted Westernization and changes to social structure.The Aeta have shown resistance to change and they were never incorporated into a colonial regime. The attempts of the Spaniards to settle them in reservations all throughout Spanish rule failed. During the early American colonization of the Philippines, the political structure of the Aeta was not disturbed, except when neighboring lowlanders organized artificial government structures headed by a captain or policia.
Methodist missionaries have attempted to educate the Aeta people.
While resisting change from the outside for hundreds of years, the Aeta adjusted to social, economic, cultural, and political pressures by creating systems and structures within their culture to cushion the sudden impact of change. Although the Aeta were never colonized by others they have still experienced problems with neighboring landowners. Since the latter half of the 20th century the Aeta have been declining in number. Their very existence has been threatened by problems brought about by other people and by nature. Poverty-stricken lowlanders, seeking food, have encroached on forest lands, displacing the Aeta. Although the Aeta people have stuck together and remain a close group they are decreasing in number due to their resilience to being incorporate into a colonial regime.
In the process of colonizing the region in the mid-to-late 1500’s, the Spanish forced the Aeta to relocate to the northern Philippines. The main aspect of culture that Spain brought to the Aeta was religion. When the Spanish first colonized the Aeta, they showed them the Catholic faith. The Spanish converted mainly the Malay population, the majority of the inhabitants of the Philippines at the time, which is why Catholicism is still present there today. Although, the Spanish did not force anything on them, the Aeta took on the religion and it has carried on from generation to generation.
The main factor of the relocation of the Aeta to the northern Philippines is the colonization of the Spanish in the mid-to-late 1500’s. This is when the Aeta fled to Mount Pinatubo where they ended up staying and still live today. The only real colonization of the Aeta was by the Spanish, around 1565. The Spanish attempted to force other aspects of culture on the Aeta and push them into reservations. Instead, the Aeta fled to the north where they escaped the Spanish rule and were able to maintain their culture and way of life.
There was one other presence in the Philippines, but wasn’t exactly a colonization. The Americans, although they did not disturb the Aeta culture or force them into anything unwillingly. The United States had a small presence in the Philippines for a short period of time during the Vietnam War but did not disturb any natural inhabitants or culture. When the United States military was there, their only purpose was to learn the way of the forest from the Aeta and gain the advantage over their enemy. The “colonization” by the United States was not an attempt to overpower or force their way of life on different cultures, it was simply a strategic move which actually helped Americans learn a considerable amount from the Aeta about their ways of life and the ways of the forest.